Selection of Suitable Maintenance Strategy for Agri-chemical / Fertilizer Production Plant using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Abstract

Fertilizer Industry is one of the major contributing factors to the growth of sustainable agriculture in Pakistan. Fertilizer Production plants in Pakistan make up 3.9 % of the Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSMs) firms. Maintenance excellence and strategy in the production plants lowers the production cost, minimize equipment downtime, improve quality, increase productivity and result in achieving organizational goals and objectives. The study aims to identify the most important maintenance criteria and the most suitable maintenance strategy for the fertilizer production plan located in Pakistan. The research initiative/endeavor adopts a case study approach in a production plant located in Pakistan to obtain the opinions of the expert on maintenance strategy selection in Agri-Chemical / Fertilizer production plants. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) used in the study is the most studied Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique for maintenance strategy selection in a variety of industries. Criteria for AHP hierarchy were identified through literature and expert consultation. The study concluded that the maintenance strategy developed from literature and expert consultation that consists a mix of Preventive Maintenance, Corrective Maintenance, Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and other types may be the most suitable maintenance strategy for the fertilizer production plant with its own unique inherent factors. The study may be evaluated using Analytic Network Process (ANP) and other hybrid MCDM techniques, furthermore maintenance performance indicators can be developed and analyzed.